Shaan recalls quitting Sa Re Ga Ma Pa against Himesh Reshammiya’s advice, making Aditya Narayan popular: ‘Don’t do what Mahima Chaudhary did…’

He added, “When I took this decision of not anchoring the show, Himesh told me a very interesting thing. He said, ‘The decision you have taken is similar to what Mahima Chaudhary had done to herself.’ At that point in time, I didn’t understand his statement. Then I learnt that makers of Big Brother first wanted Mahima Chaudhary to join the UK series, which she didn’t accept and then it was passed to Shilpa Shetty, who took it up. She became a phenomenon post that.”

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Shilpa Shetty became the first Indian celebrity to be included in the British reality television series. Later, she won the show after gaining 63% of the public vote. This also helped her bag the second season of Bigg Boss as its host.

He shared Himesh was of the opinion that Shaan should have stuck around. “So here, Aditya became Shilpa Shetty and I became Mahima Chaudhary of my story. However, by God’s grace, Voice of India also did well and I kept getting reality show gigs.”

Previously talking to TellyChakkar, Shaan said, “When I left Zee after Little Champs and Aditya took over as host, he made the show popular. He is doing a great job. I think the success of the show primarily depends on the talent of the contestants and the rest is secondary.”

Aditya Narayan quit SaReGaMaPa in 2022. In a post on Instagram, the singer wrote, “With a heavy heart, I bid adieu to my hosting duties for a show that gave me my own identity as an adult, SaReGaMaPa. From an 18 year old teenager to a young man with a beautiful wife & baby daughter! 15years. 9 seasons. 350 episodes. Time really does fly.”